by Yuriko Hime
"And if there's something behind it, you'll be a very happy boy."
"True." He marched towards the picture. "Here goes." Carter lifted the frame without any problems. My heart leaped with joy the same time that he whistled a low tune. "Hi there baby," he said, staring at the safe in front of him. "Hey Riri, want to hear a trivia? The mister and missus of the house are traditional." He pointed to the safe. "The lock they used is called a master lock. Everyone likes it, but it's not as sophisticated as they might think."
I squinted at it. Carter moved to the side to give me a better view. It was familiar. "It looks like the lock we've been using at school," I remarked.
"Correct." He sounded like a professor. "Any good old safecrackers such as myself." He bowed low. "Knows that master locks have sixty four thousand different combinations. It will take you roughly more than one hundred hours to crack it." He pointed his finger up. "But alas! It is not impossible."
I had to smile despite my aching ankle. He was passionate about this. "Get to work smartass," I said. "She's counting on us." Carter turned around and concentrated on the lock. I stared at his back as he went to work. Sometimes the universe had a funny way of doing things. I've always scolded him about this. It turned out that it would be a big help for me in the future. If life throws you an unsolvable mystery, get a lock picker of a best friend to uncover it.
My pocket vibrated. I took my phone and checked for any messages. There was one from Blaze. Hurry, she said. Mom is wondering where you two went. I told them you visited the kitchen. She'll go there soon.
I typed a quick reply. Need more time. Do what you can. "Is that done?" I asked Carter after putting my phone back in my pocket.
"Almost," he said over his shoulder. "Just. One. More." The lock clicked. Wanting to see the inside for myself, I pushed myself from the floor. Pain shot on my ankle. Forget about that. I wiped my forehead. The truth was around the corner. I limped to Carter just as he opened the door. "Don't celebrate yet. There's another one," he said.
"Another safe?" I looked at the space inside and saw a rectangular box. I leaned against the wall to support myself. "Can you handle that?" I said to Carter wearily. I wasn't doing anything, yet exhaustion was making its way to my entire body. My legs felt like jelly.
He carefully took the box from the compartment. "This is a hotel safe," he said. Carter knelt down and put the white box on the floor. He stared at me with an enlivened glimmer on his eyes. "Watch carefully Ri." He wiggled the black knob. It didn't budge. I didn't know what he was up to. If it was meant to be opened that way, it wouldn't be a safe. "Watch again," he said. This time, he turned the knob and hit the roof of the safe simultaneously. It opened to my amazement.
"How did you do that?!" I yelled. Oops! I glanced at the door nervously. In a lower voice I said, "That was amazing."
Carter shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "This is the easiest safe to crack dude. In fact there are three ways to open this. You can check it on the net." I thought against giving him a hug. It wasn't the time and place. We had work to do. "Shall we?" he asked.
I swallowed the lemon in my throat. We could get imprisoned for this or banished permanently from this house. "Check it," I said with resolve. Carter nodded to me and opened the safe wider. He pulled out the familiar folder that we've seen before.
"Here," he said as he handed it to me. My hands were shaking when I took it. This was just like Uno telling me about her padded cell. But I got over that. Surely I could handle her past too. I slowly lifted the cover of the folder. Uno's younger face welcomed me in the form of a picture stapled on the bond paper. It was black and white. I brushed my thumb over it. She looked so innocent. So defenseless. I scanned the preceding words and chewed on my bottom lip.
"What is it?" Carter asked.
I limped out of the room, towards the parlor where I knew they were still talking. My thoughts were so screwed that even Carter would have trouble unlocking them. The three occupants of the room were surprised when I barged in and slapped the folder on the coffee table. "Tell her," I said to Blaze and Uno's parents. "Tell her, or I will."
Blaze touched me calmly. Correction, it was Uno I saw when I stared. They've switched. "Sit down," she said.
"You need to know the truth about you," I insisted.
She nodded and let go of me. "That I'm adopted?" Her eyes gleamed dangerously. The storm she was keeping was hidden in her stare. But I could read her like a book. In her story, she was mad and confused. "My parents just admitted it to me," she said. I glanced at Gerald and Simone. The latter was holding a handkerchief. Both of them had red-rimmed eyes and looked like they were crying. I collapsed on the sofa beside Uno. Her cover was set. She looked unaffected by all of it.
"Did you know though?" I turned to her. "That you and I came from the same place?"
Chapter 31. Half Truth
As far as first memories went, I was a late bloomer. Most people had a recollection of their childhood at two years of age. Some at an astounding age of one. Mine was at seven. Looking back now, I didn't know where my memories from one to six went. Perhaps what Uno said about keeping the memory locked away to protect oneself could be applicable to me too.
Holy Child Angels. That was the name of the adoption center where I came from. I found that much later in my teens when I was shuffling through mom's papers, eager to give her a file she wanted. Earlier today, I saw the same name printed on Uno and Blaze's documents. We both came there. We both knew mom. We both forgot about our past. But why was she so damaged while I wasn't? Why was I saved from the traumatic childhood that might have happened to us there?
Only the tick-tock of Carter's wristwatch could be heard in the silence. He and I, plus Uno and her parents were seated on the parlor for a good ten minutes without speaking. The stillness started when I told them that Uno and I came from Holy Angels. Since then, there was an unspoken contest between us five. Whoever spoke first needed to explain, and no one dared venture on the subject.
"You could be relatives," Carter said, addressing the elephant in the room. I had to give him props for attempting, but the flare of anger I suddenly felt with the possibility contradicted that.
"For goodness sake Carter," I said to him. Uno's reply was a scary glower, as if she was ready to slit his throat.
"Sorry," he said, looking at his feet. "Just wanted to get that out there."
Uno rubbed her temple. "That's out of the equation," she said. "I've been thinking about it, but it's simply impossible. One, Riri and I don't look alike. Two, Manager Chance wouldn't be cruel enough to keep this from us. I don't see the need for it." She frowned and turned to her parents inquiringly. "Or did you have a hand at it?"
"Not all of it," her father confessed.
Uno exploded out of her chair. She looked alarmed as she grabbed at her hair. "So you admit it then? Riri and I are relatives?"
Simone wiped her brow with a handkerchief, looking like she was about to faint. She squirmed in her chair. "What your father meant was we had an agreement with Mrs. Chance about keeping your past under wraps." She glanced at her husband, pleading him to support her.
"That's right," he said. "We didn't want anything to get out, so we had her sign a non-disclosure agreement. Mrs. Chance could never tell you anything. We made sure of that." He motioned to the chair. "Sit down Blaze. We should talk about this properly."
Her eyebrows twitched. "I'm not Blaze. My name is Uno." Oh God. I tugged at her jeans so she would look at me.
"Give them a chance to speak," I begged. Uno stood straighter and stared darkly at Simone and Gerald. She reminded me of a statue of a Goddess who was about to give her judgment. "Please," I said again. She harrumphed but eventually sat down.
Gerald took it as a go signal to explain their side. "We didn't know Mrs. Chance personally," he said. "We met her at a charity event. Your mother and I." He quickly glanced at Simone and smiled. "We met at a late age. Instead of risking your mother's health to have children, we preferr
ed to help the unfortunate ones."
"Like me," Uno said with a deadpan expression.
"That was much later dear," Simone said. A soft knock on the door made her pause. The female attendant came in with a tray and five cups of tea. We waited for her to put it all on the table and leave before continuing the conversation. Simone cleared her throat. "As I was saying. One time, Mrs. Chance approached us and said that she was associated with Holy Angels. We've never heard of that particular adoption center before. Gerald, I think it's best if you continue."
He nodded and set his cup down on the table. "We learned from Mrs. Chance that Holy Angels was about to close. They needed to find a place for the children, so we decided to adopt you," he said to Uno. "We might have pulled a few strings to get what we wanted, but it worked out in the end didn't it?"
Uno quietly took her cup of tea and contemplated on it. Since she was in a no-speaking mood, it was my turn to ask questions. "Pardon me," I said. "Why did Holy Angels close? And if it's not obvious to you yet, aside from coming there, I was also Mrs. Chance's adopted daughter."
"We figured as much," Simone said. "You have the same vibe as your mother." What did she mean by that? Simone exhaled through her mouth. "I don't know how to put it in a less gruesome manner," she said. "Holy Angels closed because a child died there." Uno, Carter, and I were surprised by this news. They looked as disgruntled as I was.
"Death is not uncommon of course," Gerald supplied. "But there were rumors that it wasn't a natural cause." He shook his head sadly. "We can only imagine what went on. In fact, Mrs. Chance said that most of the children were left traumatized."
Uno finally set her cup down to speak. "What about me? Was I traumatized too?" she asked. I held my breath while waiting for Gerald to answer. This was it. We were about to uncover her past.
"We don't know," he said. "Each time we asked you about it, all you'd ever say was you forgot." Gerald sighed. "Eventually, Simone and I felt that it was better that you did. No child should suffer from awful memories. We asked Mrs. Chance to sign a non-disclosure, so what happened in the past would stay there." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "The reason why we forbade you to be an actress was because we were afraid that someone would sniff around and find out the truth about you. Then you'd remember everything."
"And because I've forgotten everything, you think I'm okay?" Uno asked in disbelief.
Gerald looked uncomfortable with the question. He unbuttoned his collar to buy him some time. "Yes, we do believe that," he murmured. "Though you've been acting really strange, your mother and I stand firm that you've turned out to be quite normal despite the possible circumstances."
Uno reared her head back and burst out laughing. It went on for seconds, just her guffawing like a hyena. Her smile was all but gone as she stared back at us. "Did I forget to tell you mom and dad?" she said. Uno grabbed her cup of tea and threw it as hard as she could on the opposite wall. The crashing sound was replaced by her yell. "I'm not fucking normal!"
I tugged at Carter's hand. "Come on," I said to him. "Leave the room for a while."
"Stay," Uno snapped at us. The command glued Carter to the sofa. I couldn't allow her to control me in this situation. She was having a panic attack again.
I stood in front of her and cupped my hand on her cheek. Her parents and Carter were watching us cautiously, ready to bolt out of the room anytime. "I'm here," I said soothingly, careful not to let her know that I was trembling too. "No one will hurt you. I won't let them." I caressed her face. She was injured, and as with all injured beings, all she needed was care. "No one will hurt you, but if you continue this, you will hurt us."
Her once unfocused eyes concentrated on my face as she took in my words. "I'm sorry," she said regretfully. I pushed her down on the sofa.
"Simone, Gerald," I said as I sank beside Uno. I took one more look at my girlfriend, asking her for permission. She nodded and glanced away. I turned back to the couple. "Your daughter has been seeing a doctor for years. Doctor Sanders can explain this to you better. I'm sure she will once you've scheduled a meeting. Uno has a serious condition."
Simone gasped and grabbed her husband's hand. "Is my baby dying?" she whispered.
I pretended not to hear Uno's snort. "No she's not," I said. "The doctor she's seeing is a Psychologist."
Gerald leaned closer to the table. It looked like he has forgotten that he was still holding Simone's hand. "Are you hearing voices?" he asked Uno.
"I do not have schizophrenia," Uno said, sounding highly upset. "Dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia are two very different sides of the coin." I cracked a smile while she explained. Uno sounded more like herself this way. It made me sigh in relief. "Schizophrenia is a psychosis, a biological disorder. My condition is brought by trauma. I do not hear voices or see things that aren't there. I can function well with the society."
"I've heard what I can," Carter whispered next to my ear. "You're right. It's better if we leave them alone." I squeezed Uno's legs before standing up. Carter and I left the three of them in the parlor. I saw Simone starting to cry again before I closed the door.
"I think I need a cigarette," Carter said, leaning on the nearby wall.
"You don't smoke." I collapsed on the floor and hugged my knees. Uno's conversation with his parents couldn't be heard from outside the parlor.
"Yeah, but I still need one." He stared at the ceiling. "Nah, on second thought, I don't like the smell. I'd settle for a double hot fudge sundae instead." He formed an imaginary cup with his hand and took out an invisible spoon. "I remember your mom treating us before," Carter said fondly. "She was a kind woman Riri, and so are you." He looked sympathetically at me. "So that's Uno's secret. It's messed up."
I settled my chin on my knees. "Uh huh."
"I'll be a better brother to you from now on," he promised. "To Blaze too. She's my new sister." I nodded and closed my eyes, exhausted. If only I could rest for a while.
I woke up wrapped in Uno's arms while she carried me in the hallway. "Where are you taking me?" I said.
"To my old room. You look beat." I fell asleep to the soft rhythm of her heartbeat.
It was twilight when I opened my eyes. The orange color of the sunset penetrated the room through the crack between the curtains. I studied the place. A bookshelf was situated on one side. It was color coded down to the last novel. The other part of the room had large posters of movies on the wall. A clapperboard, an instrument that directors use, was also displayed meticulously on a table.
I shifted to my left side. Uno lay beside me, observing me while I studied the room. "Nice room," I said. "Very classy."
"You should see my voodoo doll collection," she said. Lighthearted and an easy smile. She has switched back to Blaze while I was sleeping. Furthermore, I noticed that she was up to speed with what happened.
"You have a voodoo doll collection?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. But I don't have a need for it anymore," she said mysteriously. "I already have your heart." I moved nearer to her so I could kiss her forehead. Regardless of her sweet smile, I could feel the sadness lurking.
"Did they tell you more?" I asked. "Your parents I mean."
She propped her head up using her hand. "Regretfully not. After hearing about my condition, mom and dad told me that they didn't really know what happened in Holy Angels. As far as they were concerned, there was a death, and the people behind the institution needed to close it fast. The paper works for my adoption were done in secret too."
A death and traumatized children. It sounded like the plot of a movie. "I think my mom knows everything." I sat up. Now that I had some sleep, I was feeling so much better. "But there's no use going through her things. I went to her office with Carter before to get some stuff. Nothing she wrote can shed light to both our past." Uno pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Do you think we knew each other in Holy Angels?" I asked, leaning to her.
"Without a doubt," she
murmured. "It's impossible to miss you."
I glanced at her over my shoulder. "Yet you forgot about me," I teased.
She tensed for one to two seconds, then wrapped me tighter in her arms. I loved it when we were like this. It felt like I could disappear inside her. "You forgot about me too," she said.
"Touché."
Her warm breath beside my ear sent a thrill down my spine. "I want to make love to you," she whispered. I squeezed my eyes shut. I'd like nothing more than to do that. "I don't want to forget you again. I feel like I need to leave my fingerprint on you," she said. "But we both know that it's not going to happen anytime soon, is it? That's so unfair."
I felt her hand traveling underneath my shirt. I gasped when it went inside my bra. "Blaze," I said huskily. "Not yet."
She placed feather light kisses on my neck. I reared my head back to give her easier access. "Let me at least hold you," she said in between kisses. I hissed when her other hand went inside my jeans. "You're wet. I can feel you over the cloth. It's warm and inviting." She shivered against me. The vibrations sent a fresh feeling of chills on me. My head was clouded with lust. The images of her and me sprawled on the bed was vivid in my mind. If I moved closer to her hand, I would lose all control. "Stop me," she said. How could I? How could I stop? Her fingers moved closer, making me moan. Just a few inches more.
I clenched my teeth. "Uno wouldn't like this," I said. I forcefully removed her hands from me. "I love Uno just as much as I love you Blaze."
She chuckled behind me. What was funny about that? She was killing me with this teasing. "We both love you too," she said. "Now if only she and I can say it together as one." Blaze paused. It was Uno's voice I heard the next time she spoke. "Then that would make our Riri happy."
Chapter 32. Investigation
